Combustion-engine.



J. SULZER. COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 8,1908.

2 Patented Feb. 7, 1911.

F .1. F .1? .2. al a f e 1 WITNESSES INENTDR UNITED STATES PATENT.OFFICE.-

JAKOB SULZER, OF WINTERTHUR, SWITZERLAND. I

COMBUSTION-ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. '7, 1911.

Application filed July 8, 1908. Serial No. 442,490'.'

- To all iohom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AKOB SULzEn', manu-J facturer, a citizelr'of theRepublic of Switzerland, residing at 97 'Langgasse, Winterthur,Switzerland, have invented certain new: and useful Improvementsinjor-jRelat ing to (lombustion Engines; and I do'hrby declare thefollowing to bea fulhclear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will, enable othersskilled in -theli art jfto which it appertains to make and the same:

[In the combustion 'engine according to the compression of the wastegases with the fuel can be efiected also ina cylinder sepa-.

rate from the engine cylinder. The chief constituents ofthe waste-gasesare always carbonic acid and nitrogen. If

they are mixed with fuel, for instance atomized liquid hydrocarbons, thecomposition of the mixture becomes very similar to that of the ordinarygenerator gas which contains, in addition to the combustibleingredients, large quantities of nitrogen and carbonic acid. Owing,however, to the mixing and compression with the waste gases, the fuel isevaporated, gasified, superheated and brought into a state eminentlysuitable for subsequent ignition and combustion. Similar results areobtained when gaseous fuels or fuels in the form of powder are used. v

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate diagrammatically variousmethods of carrying the invention into effect: Figure 1 illustrates aconstruction in which the engine works, for example, on the twostrokecycle; Fig. 1 shows a modifiedconstruction; Fig. 2 shows a furthermodified.

construction; Fig. 3 shows an engine with an additional chamber in whichthe fuel is collected, and Fig. 4 shows anengine with an air-pumpconnected to it so as to dispense with an intermediate vessel forstoring the air for combustion under pressure.

Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

Referring to Fig. l, a is a piston working in a cylinder 6. After thecombustion and expansion stroke is completed, the piston a arrives atthe bottomand opens, while passing over the dead point, the exhaustports 0. During the-escape of the waste gases, or at are again closedand the piston is at some point on.1ts return, a certainquantity of theend of the escape or exhaust, or when the ports'durmg the return of thepiston fuel, for instance gas, is admitted through v a valve (1 andbecomes automatically mixed,

or is mixed by some Well known mixing or 1 distributing device, -withthe hot waste gases, whereupon the mixture is further compressed duringthe further advance of the piston after the closing of. the fuel-inletvalve (Z. No combustion takes place during this time as the waste gasesdo notcontain any oxygen. Or-if there be still some traces of oxygen, avery slight combustion takes place as soon as the ignition temperaturehas been produced by the compression. This.

ignition extends however only through a very small portion'of theexisting fuel and results merely in a still greater increase oftemperature than would be produced by the compression alone, that is tosay in a still better state for the subsequent combustion process, whenthe air for combustion is admitted. v

The admissionof the air for combustion takes place near the end of thepiston stroke through the valve 6 which is'of such shape that the airspreads'in every direction in the combustion space. The air forcombustion itself must of course be compressed in an independent pumpwhich is not shown in the drawing as any of the well known types of airpump could be used for the purpose. Any well known pump constructioncould also be used for compressingthe fuel, such means of'compressionbeing necessary as the therefore that the combustion is gradualcorresponding to the quantity of air admitted, and that it is possible,by regulating the admission of air, to make the combustion quick orslow, to interrupt it whenever desired, or to start-it again. Thisregula tion of the admission of air'for combustion can be effected atthe inlet 6 or atthe air pump itselfeby means of well known de vices. Inaddition to the exhaust ports, there could also be provided,- as shownin.

Fig. lgas'eparate exhaust valve f at the top so that on the upstrokeofthe' piston any desired portion of the waste gases could be expelledby the piston itself through the saidvalve before the fuel 'is admittedafter the valve f is closed.

through the valve d. ,The ignition of fuel ashereinbefore described,takes place only It will be seen that by closing the exhaust valve fearlier or later, the power of the en- 'gine could be regulated. Thepower of the engine could, however, also be regulated by I the quantityof fuel admitted through the- ,valve (1, or, as already stated, by theregulation ofthe air admitted at e. Several of the above mentioned meansfor regulation could also be used simultaneously.

. Fuel could be mixed with the compressed waste gases only when thepiston is'quite close to the upper deadcenter or on the dead centeritself, or even during the return of ,the piston as long as the heatdeveloped by the compression is sufiieiently great to maintain thecombustible gas produced in such a state and at such temperature thatignition and combustion should take place atthe subsequent contact with'air. This method is preferable when liquid fuels are used and theadmission of the same is effected by means of the waste gases. 7

some. well known injector or blowing in nozzle or other device.

7 It is not disadvantageous to blow in the fuel with a small quantity ofcompressed air,

the action of which is the same as if the "waste gases themselves stillcontain some -a1r.

The injection can'also be effected by means of some inert gasesandalsoby It has been. mentloned above that the valve 6 .is of such formthat the air spreads ment with the desired speed and .inthe desiredquantity to the compressed waste gases,

- ber.

also be obtained as shown in. Fig. 2 where in every' direction in thecombustion cham- Such a distributionof the air could the inlet point ibeing open or, ifv desired, provided with a valve. In this case air isadmitted through the valve 6, and f is an exhaust valve. J

,The process could'also be carried out on the fourstroke cycle. Thus,for instance,

the pistona in Fig. 2 could draw in 'a mixture of fuel and waste gasesthrough the Any other method of distribjvalve ilfduriug the firstdownstroke and .conipress it. during the next upstroke. During the nextdownstroke the separately compressed'lair' for combustion isadmittedthrough the valve' 0. This" constitutes the combustion. 'periodand. subsequently after the closing of the'valve e the expansion period.During the next upstroke of the piston, the waste gases are expelledthrou h the valve if. The valve f could also he closed before the end ofthe piston upstroke and thus a certain quantity of'waste gasesimprisoned in the cylinder into which fuel is then admitted throughthevalve (1 during. the downstrokebf'the piston. The carrying out of theprocess'on the four-stroke cycle is, however,.not veryeconomical, aswill be readily understood. "It is described here merely in order toshow that the process could'he carried out also with other well knowntypes of engines. The engine could of coursebemade double-acting'in onecylinder. f

In the method'descrihed above of i carryin this invention into efi'ect,it was assume that the air-pump stores air for combustion in a vesselfromwhich it can be taken asde sired through the valve 8. The airjpumpand the waste-gas compressor could however be connected together in sucha manner as to make an intermediate vessel superfluous. Suchanarrangement is illustrated in Fig. 4.

the cylinder 11 contains compressed air, the cylinder 1)containscompressed mixture of In this case the operation is as 'follows:The piston a just beglnning'its downstroke,

waste gases and fuel and its piston a'-, which: I I follows after a hasnot yetarrived at, the 1 upper dead center. The highly compressedmixture'is accordin ly driven from the cylinder 6 into the cy 'nderwhere combustion takes place'until the piston a has arrived at the upperdead center. Beginning with that point, expansion takes place-simultaneously in both cylinders so that they are both filled with waste gaseswhen the pistons arrive near the lower dead center. At that momentairi'sadmitted through the valve 6 and the cylinder 6 is exhausted throughthe slots 0. On the return of the piston, air is compressed in thecylinder 1)} and waste. gases in the cylinder Z1 and fuel isadded to thewaste gases through the valve (1 in the manner already described.

Both of the two cylinders b and b could drive directly on to the crankshaft, or one of them could be driven from the cam shaft or quiteindependently.

' Instead of admitting air into the mixture of waste gases and fuel, orthe said mixture into the air, both can be simultaneously pumped into athird cylinder which then acts alone as the engine cylinder while thetwo other cylinders merely constitute pumps.

It is obvious that various other modificathe fuel to the waste gaseousproducts of combustion may take place either before,

Tluring, or after thecompression, and it will be understood that theinvention is not limited to the addition of the fuel charge to the wastegases at any particular period with respect to such compression, and itis intended that the claims, unle'ss specifically limited to the precisesequence of steps, art intended to coverbroadly the admission of thefuel charge to the Waste gases, either before, during, or after thecompression of the latter.

What I claim is 3 1. The method of operating internal combustionengines, which consists in retaining in the cylinder a regulable portionof the gaseous products of combustion, raising the 1 temperature of suchproducts by compres-. sion to the point of ignition of an explosivecharge, 'and subsequently adding to the mixture a supply ofair tocomplete the explosive charge and support the combustion thereof.

2. The method of operating internal combustion engines, which consistsin reserving in the cylinder a regulable portion of the waste gaseousproducts of combustion, forming a mixture of the same with a fuelcharge, increasing the temperature to the pointof ignition of anexplosive charge by compression, and finally adding a supply of air tothe mixture to support combustion.

3. The method of operating internal combustion engines, which consistsin reserving in the cylinder a regulable portion of the waste gaseousproducts of combustion, adding ,a charge of fuel. thereto compressingthe mixture sufiiciently to raise the temperature to the point ofignition of an explo sive charge, and finally adding a supply of air tocomplete the explosive charge and support combustion thereof.

4. In an internal combustion engine employing a portion of itsproductsof combustion in admixture with fuel and air, the combination with theengine parts of a supplementary exhaust mechanism for regulating thequantity of the combustion products retained.

5. In an internal 'c'ombustion engine em;

ploying a portion of: its products of combustion in admixture with fueland air, the com 1 bination with the engine parts o'f'a supple-.

mentary exhaust port, a regulable valve cooperating therewith todetermine the quamf of waste products retained, and means' tlty foractuating said valve.

In testimony whereof I have affixed I signature, in presence of twowitnesses JAKOB SULZER' Witnesses: T

WILHELM- BACHMANN, AUGUST MARKLIN.

